JOHN ANDRETTI (#33 Camping World Panther Dallara/Honda/Firestone): (How has this lived up to the expectations you had going in? ): “I think my experience played a part in it since I have been here a few times. The line is a little bit different, so I had to relearn some things. It has been three years since I have around this racetrack, anyway, so I had a lot to re-learn. “
Is this still the hardest qualifying experience you have? :
“You have to remember I came from NEXTEL Cup, and every weekend it is like qualifying for the Indianapolis 500; you have to go and try to stand your head to make it work, but I didn’t have to do that today. The car was really fast and really comfortable and tried to do four consistent laps. “
What is the biggest difference between 1994 and 2007? :
“Probably going to be in race traffic more than anything else, and in qualifying the cars kind of do the same thing and maybe a little more forgiving at times because we certainly didn’t have it on the ragged edge to do the time. It was good. It was solid, and I couldn’t be more happier with the car and Panther Racing. Vitor (Meira) set it up, and all I had to do was go out and drive it. ”
About qualifying run:
“The team deserves all the credit. The setup has been something has hasn’t changed a whole lot; we have trimmed it out some. Really just being able to talk to people and learned a lot about the differences and driving a little bit, yesterday we just tried to do qualifying runs and not try to get ahead of ourselves, so you didn’t see us a lot. You didn’t see us this morning, and we knew we had a fast enough car in the Camping World Dallara to make the race. We just put together four solid laps, and we have a plan and we stuck to it. It’s a little bit different plan than most people, like the Michael Andretti plan last weekend, and it seems to work for us because we just didn’t need to do a lot of running. It would have been nice to be the quickest on the day, but the bigger picture is more important. “
About qualifying goals:
“Yeah, I dreamed a good number, and Helio (Castroneves) would have been disappointed, but that didn’t come true. ”
Where does this rank in a career achievement for you? :
“It’s funny: Some people pick a career path and stick to it, and my path is kind of goes where the wind blows. I am just glad the wind got strong enough to blow me back to Indianapolis. It is a great opportunity for me. I can’t thank Camping World and Panther Racing and the guys on the team and teammates for letting me be a part of this. It’s one thing to say you want to do it and getting all the pieces together to do it. The Indianapolis 500 is huge. To get another (starters’) ring is awful nice, even if you can’t wear them all. It would be nice to get one of those with the checkered flag on it. Maybe of one those other Andretti’s – we are going to give it our best shot. It is a very tough crowd to race against, so we have a lot of work ahead of us next Sunday. ”
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